Final possession. Call was fishy.

So vagas had Indiana to win by two points. Shot clock turned off. Ball tipped out of bound. Would giving papers the ball allow them to beat the raps and ensure the two points spread? Yes! Call could have went raps way since they were the home team. And already raps were getting nailed with non calls. Just my thoughts.

They did take their foot off the gas though. Good game in either case.

On another note, how lucky are we for not landing Nash? Would have been a totally different team. He got hurt early in Lakers second loss with a bruised leg. Things happens for a reason. Good or bad!

I was wondering about that...lack of exposure may kill us in future for the lack of non-calls. That's where it helps to have an all-star. Despite last year just not being good, the amount of no-calls was tragic. I should also mention that I am not a simple Raps homer either. Just that it was somewhat obvious. Hope that isn't the case this year.

So vagas had Indiana to win by two points. Shot clock turned off. Ball tipped out of bound. Would giving papers the ball allow them to beat the raps and ensure the two points spread? Yes! Call could have went raps way since they were the home team. And already raps were getting nailed with non calls. Just my thoughts.

They did take their foot off the gas though. Good game in either case.

On another note, how lucky are we for not landing Nash? Would have been a totally different team. He got hurt early in Lakers second loss with a bruised leg. Things happens for a reason. Good or bad!

Go raps

No more conspiracy theories, please! The sporting world isn't out to screw Canadian teams.

the non call on hill's winning bucket was kinda frustrating given the fact bargs got that push off call. Hill basicly threw Lowry away from him & didnt get any call...

u can blame the coaching all u want but if the raps got a few calls go there way this game is ours..

When I look to assign blame, I prefer to look at controllable events. I don't view referees as controllable. The Raps have no one to blame for this loss except themselves. The game was their's to win and they gave it away.

When I look to assign blame, I prefer to look at controllable events. I don't view referees as controllable. The Raps have no one to blame for this loss except themselves. The game was their's to win and they gave it away.

Agreed. The whoa-is-me, refs-hate-Toronto, talk needs to stop. There were horrible calls on both sides. At the end of the day, the refs didn't shoot 36% from the field, and the refs didn't let West explode for 14 pts in the final quarter.

Recommendation: Despite numerous attempts to take the ball to the rim that met a wall of Indiana defenders, DeRozan could neither get his shot to fall nor get a foul call from the refs, leading to a fairly vanilla box score line. It's encouraging to see DeRozan be that aggressive though rather than settling for jump shots though, and better scoring days should be ahead.
(Rotowire.com)

Agreed. The whoa-is-me, refs-hate-Toronto, talk needs to stop. There were horrible calls on both sides. At the end of the day, the refs didn't shoot 36% from the field, and the refs didn't let West explode for 14 pts in the final quarter.

Agreed. The whoa-is-me, refs-hate-Toronto, talk needs to stop. There were horrible calls on both sides. At the end of the day, the refs didn't shoot 36% from the field, and the refs didn't let West explode for 14 pts in the final quarter.

I agree with some points. There were horrible calls on both sides yes, but doesnt mean the calls on both sides had the same impact on the situation. i thought there were more non-calls with the Raps down the stretch and thats what buried them. Unfortunately, refs are part of the game and what they do makes an impact on how teams play. If the refs called all those fouls against Demar and Bargnani, and they got all those FTs in, would West's 14 points have made a difference? Probably not. And this is how refs impact the game. That last play too it was fairly obvious that Bargnani got bumped by West, but a non-call ended the game.

So vagas had Indiana to win by two points. Shot clock turned off. Ball tipped out of bound. Would giving papers the ball allow them to beat the raps and ensure the two points spread? Yes! Call could have went raps way since they were the home team. And already raps were getting nailed with non calls. Just my thoughts.

They did take their foot off the gas though. Good game in either case.

On another note, how lucky are we for not landing Nash? Would have been a totally different team. He got hurt early in Lakers second loss with a bruised leg. Things happens for a reason. Good or bad!

Agreed. The whoa-is-me, refs-hate-Toronto, talk needs to stop. There were horrible calls on both sides. At the end of the day, the refs didn't shoot 36% from the field, and the refs didn't let West explode for 14 pts in the final quarter.

Non-premier teams playing >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> non-premier refs being assigned the game >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> lots of incorrect or missed calls. This has been true in the NBA for years.

I agree with some points. There were horrible calls on both sides yes, but doesnt mean the calls on both sides had the same impact on the situation. i thought there were more non-calls with the Raps down the stretch and thats what buried them. Unfortunately, refs are part of the game and what they do makes an impact on how teams play. If the refs called all those fouls against Demar and Bargnani, and they got all those FTs in, would West's 14 points have made a difference? Probably not. And this is how refs impact the game. That last play too it was fairly obvious that Bargnani got bumped by West, but a non-call ended the game.

Here's my problem with blaming the refs, it takes ownership of the loss away from those who deserve it most (i.e. the Raptors). Why are we shooting long 2's in the final 5 minutes of a game? Why are we not doubling West after he scored 4 straight buckets?

If we made smart decisions, the game was ours. I'm not looking at the refs to help us overcome our own mistakes. We deserved to lose last night, and unless we improve our "crunch time IQ", there will be far more L's than W's. Like Matt said, control what you can control, and don't worry about the rest.

Expecting refs to make great calls for a full 48 minutes is asking too much....especially since it has yet to happen in NBA history.

Here's my problem with blaming the refs, it takes ownership of the loss away from those who deserve it most (i.e. the Raptors). Why are we shooting long 2's in the final 5 minutes of a game? Why are we not doubling West after he scored 4 straight buckets?

If we made smart decisions, the game was ours. I'm not looking at the refs to help us overcome our own mistakes. We deserved to lose last night, and unless we improve our "crunch time IQ", there will be far more L's than W's. Like Matt said, control what you can control, and don't worry about the rest.

Expecting refs to make great calls for a full 48 minutes is asking too much....especially since it has yet to happen in NBA history.

I fully agree, I'm not saying the Raps are full victims here, they are definitely a bigger part of the blame for the loss, but what im getting at is referee involvement cannot be dismissed. they are partially to blame as well. It is their job to watch plays and make calls. They see whats going on, if they decide not to blow that whistle, its a choice theyre making. you cant control a long 2, every player in the world who takes that long 2 assumes that shot is going to go in, everytime. otherwise, why shoot ever then? you cant think of percentages when you have that shot set. the double team, yes, that is valid. or they shouldve put JV on west. but the thing is, doesnt matter if its west, hill or george, somebody will still score. if those 14 points were spread among 4 different players, would we be pointing it out? probably not.

of course nobody expects refs to make 100% of calls, but fairly obvious ones specially down the stretch, should be made.

DeRozan looked like he expected that all he had to do was stroll into the lane and he'd get a call. I saw maybe one play where it should have been a call, but the rest of his "drives" were so soft that he didn't deserve a call. He needs to do what truly great, athletic wing players do... take it hard, take it high and attempt to posterize the defenders! Don't go soft and throw up a circus shot while attempting to avoid/minimize contact... that just gives the refs a reason to make it a 50/50 call. If he goes up and tries to posterize them, he won't give the refs a choice but to blow the whistle!

I fully agree, I'm not saying the Raps are full victims here, they are definitely a bigger part of the blame for the loss, but what im getting at is referee involvement cannot be dismissed. they are partially to blame as well. It is their job to watch plays and make calls. They see whats going on, if they decide not to blow that whistle, its a choice theyre making. you cant control a long 2, every player in the world who takes that long 2 assumes that shot is going to go in, everytime. otherwise, why shoot ever then? you cant think of percentages when you have that shot set. the double team, yes, that is valid. or they shouldve put JV on west. but the thing is, doesnt matter if its west, hill or george, somebody will still score. if those 14 points were spread among 4 different players, would we be pointing it out? probably not.

of course nobody expects refs to make 100% of calls, but fairly obvious ones specially down the stretch, should be made.

You're absolutely correct. Why shoot the long 2 (also known as the LEAST efficient shot in basketball)? Anyone who takes such a shot, at any moment, should be shot.

I fully agree, I'm not saying the Raps are full victims here, they are definitely a bigger part of the blame for the loss, but what im getting at is referee involvement cannot be dismissed. they are partially to blame as well. It is their job to watch plays and make calls. They see whats going on, if they decide not to blow that whistle, its a choice theyre making. you cant control a long 2, every player in the world who takes that long 2 assumes that shot is going to go in, everytime. otherwise, why shoot ever then? you cant think of percentages when you have that shot set. the double team, yes, that is valid. or they shouldve put JV on west. but the thing is, doesnt matter if its west, hill or george, somebody will still score. if those 14 points were spread among 4 different players, would we be pointing it out? probably not.

of course nobody expects refs to make 100% of calls, but fairly obvious ones specially down the stretch, should be made.

you ask a Pacer's fan about the exact same play that you ask a Raptors fan about and you'll likely get a completely different answer.

I personally thought the out of bounds play was not conclusive - at best a jump ball. Bargnani embelished on a 'no call' West bucket. If I was a Pacers fan that was easily the refs fault if it goes the other way.

Bargnani travelled on his first FT attempts. Mahimi got called on a solid defensive play when Lowry was on an out of control drive. Lowry got FTs while jumping into his opponent on a pump fake (something the league was supposedly trying to eliminate). If I'm a Pacers fan thats 3 missed calls that lead to 6 free pts on the FT line.

This is why blaming the ref is difficult game to play and leaves the Raps potentially down 6 instead of tied at the end of the game.

I personally don't think there was a single play that entire game that was a blatant unquestionable miss by the refs. I don't think there was anything one sided about the calls all night.

The refs made a couple calls that weren't favourable to Toronto, but if a team needs favourable calls to win a game, they didn't deserve the win anyways.

Final possession wasn't what bugged me it was that the didn't get Dre a touch for the 5 before that. Raptors offense staled and they couldn't get a stop. I realize Jose hit some 3's but we gave just as much on the other end of the floor and then some when he was on the floor. I don't mind the 2 PG system for a few minutes but they basically ran 2 PG --for the whole 4th quarter. They should have played a better defensive line up down the stretch when they had leads of 8 and 6 for several minutes IMO.

On a side note Fields and Anderson combining for 0 points in 40+ minutes is horrendous. Anderson had a few steals and assists but 0 points for a combined 0-9 and we lose by 2 is tough pill to swallow.